Quotes from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

I think we're ready for succession. We just must try to do it right.

If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.

The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.

I don't run a woman government. I run a government of people.

Ebola is not just a health crisis. Across West Africa, a generation of young people risks being lost to an economic catastrophe.

The future belongs to us, because we have taken charge of it. We have the commitment, we have the resourcefulness, and we have the strength of our people to share the dream across Africa of clean water for all.

I beg you I no magician. I can't just wave a magic wand.

Liberia just needs to go through this one political transition and it can really take off. Everything's in place now. We cannot afford to put the country in the hands of someone that lacks the experience.

Leadership is never given on a silver platter, one has to earn it.

Ethnicity should enrich us; it should make us a unique people in our diversity and not be used to divide us.

My mother was the strength. She was the anchor. She was a preacher and a teacher.

The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water. But we also know what it means to see our children begin to smile again, with a restoration of hope and faith in the future.

The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water, but we also know what it means to see our children to begin to smile again with a restoration of hope and faith in the future.

In terms of being able to renew my nation, to be able to be able to bring back a devastated country, to restore hope to our people, to lift women and to give them a new horizon, a new ambition and new dreams, in respect of all of that, I think we've accomplished it, and I feel very good about that.

I don't face any particular problems as a woman president because I have been a professional for a long time. I keep telling people: I am a technocrat who happens to be a woman.

When I took office, Liberia began to recover from years of neglect. Our people have brought clean water into the heart of Monrovia to children who have never known water from a tap. Efforts are underway to expand water projects as much as possible throughout the country.

The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water, but we also know what it means to see our children to begin to smile again with a restoration of hope and faith in the future.

The future belongs to us, because we have taken charge of it. We have the commitment, we have the resourcefulness, and we have the strength of our people to share the dream across Africa of clean water for all.

One has to look at my life story to see what I've done. I've paid a heavy price that many people don't realize.

I've been involved in politics for quite some time. I've held positions, and my experiences are very deep, and I think I have the capacity, the courage, and the character to institute the kinds of reforms that are so desperately needed.

We've done a lot to restore Liberia's credibility, Liberia's reputation, Liberia's presence.

All girls know that they can be anything now. That transformation is to me one of the most satisfying things.

I stand by it. I take the criticism for it. I think it's unfair, but yes, there is a thing about nepotism, and we all try to respect it.

My mother was a disciplinarian. She believed that when young girls start to go out with young boys, they get married.